#25 Washington State Beats USC 3-2 on Thanksgiving Eve

Match Stats

• #25 Washington State def. USC 3-2 (17-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-25, 15-8)
• Washington State moves to 21-10 (11-8 Pac-12); USC falls to 18-12 (10-9 Pac-12)
• Bohler Gym, Pullman, Washington
• Attendance: 911

In a win that will cement their status as invitees to the 2016 NCAA volleyball tournament, the 25th-ranked Washington State Cougars won their only matchup of the season with USC on Wednesday, winning 3-2 at home in Pullman. USC had won the last 4 matchups between the two teams.

Kyra Holt led Washington State with the 49th double-double of her career – scoring 18 kills and 12 digs, chipping in 5 blocks to boot.

USC really dominated the run of play overall. They out-dug (70-62) and out-hit (.203-.167) Washington State, though the Cougars did out-block the Trojans (15-12). But the Cougars were hot often enough – .449 in the 3 sets they win, including just 2 errors in set 2 and 1 error in set 5 – to get the 3 sets needed for a victory.

USC’s senior Libero Taylor Whittingham had 19 digs on the day, which moved her past Katie Haller for 3rd-place on the all-time USC career list with 1,705. Trojan freshman Khalia Lanier had a career high 27 kills (8e, 67att, .284) and also chipped in 12 digs for her 14th double-double of the season.

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Courtesy Washington State Athletics:

PULLMAN, Wash. — The No. 25 Washington State volleyball team needed five sets but achieved its 21st win of the season and its 11th win in Pac12 action to move ahead of USC (18-12, 10-9) in conference standings Wednesday night in Bohler Gym. WSU (21-10 overall, 11-8 Pac-12) won with set scores of 17-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-25, 15-8.

The 21 wins ties the 1993 team for sixth-most wins in WSU history. The 11 conference wins is the most for a Cougar team since 2002 when WSU ended the season at 11-7, tied for third in the Pac-10.

Kyra Holt led the Cougs with 18 kills and 12 digs for the 49th double-double of her career, and had five blocks. McKenna Woodford had 14 kills and four blocks. Taylor Mims and Claire Martin, currently first and third in the Pac-12 in blocks per set, each had seven blocks. Mims also contributed eight kills and three aces. Hailey Bethune added seven kills, hitting .385 on the night. Alexis Dirige had 19 digs and Tani Stephens served two aces. Haley MacDonald had a double-double with 17 assists and 10 digs while Nicole Rigoni had 23 assists and nine digs.

USC’s leaders were Khalia Lanier with 27 kills and 12 digs, Niki Withers with 12 kills, Elise Ruddins with nine kills and six blocks, and Jordan Dunn with five blocks. Reni Meyer-Whalley and Alice Pizzasegola combined for 43 assists and Taylor Whittingham had 19 digs.

The visitors tallied 57 kills to WSU’s 53, had 70 digs to WSU’s 62, and hit .203 on the night while WSU hit .167 for the match. The Cougars, the national leaders in total blocks and blocks per set, tallied 15 blocks to USC’s 12 and WSU served eight aces to USC’s four.

“I’m very proud of this team for getting the win against a very, very tough USC team,” WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said. “We were able to grind it out in five. It was a little inconsistent at times but I was glad we were a little more consistent in the fifth set. We needed to settle down and get our defensive going more. Our serve wasn’t great until the end of the match and that definitely helped us. I thought Taylor Mims, especially, had some great blocks and shifted the momentum.”

“We really try not to put more emphasis on one match or another. Just to come out and prepare every single time,” Greeny said. “But it is late in the season and we’re trying to get to playoffs so we have to treat every match as that.”

When asked what the senior tri-captain Holt said to the team before the match, she replied, “Every game is important. Just take it one point at a time. Go out there and be confident and just kill it.”

WSU takes on conference leader No. 7 Washington (25-4, 15-4) Sat., Nov. 26 at 2 p.m. at Bohler Gym in a match to be televised by the Pac-12 Network. It is also WSU’s senior celebration and the Cougars will honor Hailey Bethune, Kyra Holt, Haley MacDonald and Tani Stephens before the match.

Courtesy USC Athletics:

PULLMAN, Wash. — The USC women’s volleyball team (18-12, 10-9 Pac-12) lost in five sets, 17-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-25, 15-8, to No. 25 Washington State (21-10, 11-8 Pac-12) at Bohler Gym on Wednesday, Nov. 23. The Women of Troy had a four-match winning streak over the Cougars snapped in what was the fourth five-set match between the teams in their last six meetings.

Senior libero Taylor Whittingham collected 19 digs and had seven assists and a service ace in the loss. Her 19 digs made her just the third Trojan ever to cross the 1,700-dig plateau. She passed Katie Haller (1,702 digs; 1990-93) to move into third place all-time in USC’s career record books with 1,705. Only All-American liberi Natalie Hagglund and Debora Seilhamer have more digs in program history.

Freshman outside hitter Khalia Lanier put up new career highs with 27 kills (8e, 67att, .284) and 29.0 points. She also had 12 digs for her 14th double-double of the season and added two blocks and a service ace. Junior opposite hitter Niki Withers added 12 kills and two blocks while senior middle blocker Elise Ruddins totaled nine kills (3e, 18att, .333) and six blocks (one solo) for 12.5 points.

Sophomore defender Victoria Garrick picked up 13 digs and junior middle blocker Jordan Dunn had five blocks in the Trojans’ defensive effort. USC finished with 12.0 team blocks and actually out-hit the Cougars, .203 to .176. Senior setter Alice Pizzasegola had 22 assists and seven digs while junior setter Reni Meyer-Whalley put up 21 assists and eight digs to go with two service aces.

For the Cougars, Kyra Holt led the way with 18 kills (12e, 59att, .102) and had 12 digs for a double-double with five blocks (one solo). McKenna Woodford had 14 kills (4e, 37att, .270) with four blocks. Taylor Mims and Claire Martin each had seven blocks. Mims added eight kills. Three WSU players reached double-digit digs including Alexis Dirige who led with 19.

The Trojans built their first eight-point lead of the first set at 15-7 on a kill by Lanier. The Cougars cut the lead in half and trailed by just four at 20-16, but USC stepped on the gas to win, 25-17, with Lanier contributing two kills and a block for the final three points of the frame. The second set was tied 11 times but WSU caught the Trojans at 18-all and forced the only lead change of the set. The Cougars scored on seven of the last nine rallies to complete a 25-20 win to tie the match at one-all.

An early back-and-forth in the third set quickly got out of hand when WSU went on a 4-1 run to lead, 12-8. The Cougars didn’t let up and led by six at 15-9. The Trojans mounted a 4-1 run to close the gap but Washington State slammed the door on any comeback bid to win another 25-20 frame for a 2-1 lead in the match. USC responded to the Cougars’ win by coming out with a vengeance for a 25-15 win in the fourth. The Trojans never trailed and scored 19 points with 13 kills, three blocks, and three aces in the set. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late, as the Cougars scored the first four points of the fifth set and never looked back. WSU led by five, 10-5, on a service ace, and scored 14 of their 15 points in the fifth to complete the 3-2 win.

Up next, the Women of Troy will close the regular season against crosstown rival No. 8 UCLA (23-6, 14-5 Pac-12) at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, Nov. 26. The Trojans and Bruins will meet at 5 p.m. PT and be shown live on Pac-12 Los Angeles with Anne Marie Anderson and Holly McPeak on the broadcast.

For more information on the USC women’s volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Periscope, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 48-14 in all-time matches against Washington State and had a four-match win streak over the Cougars snapped.
The Trojans and the Cougars played their fourth five-set match in the teams’ last six meetings. The last USC loss to WSU was also a five-set affair at Bohler Gym in 2013.
The Women of Troy lost to both of the Pac-12 teams it faced only once each this season (Washington and WSU).
Freshman OH Khalia Lanier set new career highs with 27 kills, 67 attacks, and 29.0 points.
Lanier recorded her 28th double-digit points match of the season.
Lanier also had 12 digs to produce her 14th double-double this season.
Senior libero Taylor Whittingham registered her 26th match this season in double digits for digs (19).
Whittingham’s 19 digs gives her 1,705 career digs and moves her into third place in USC’s all-time record books ahead of Katie Haller (1,702 digs; 1990-93). Only All-American liberi Natalie Hagglund (2,362 digs; 2010-13) and Debora Seilhamer (2,071 digs; 2003-06) have more digs in USC program history.